Somebodies
by Lulala
Summary: Whenever Sora and Kairi are together, Roxas and Namine are as well. When Sora and Kairi get into a fight, Roxas and Namine are the ones to pay for it. What will they do to get Sora and Kairi back together? R x N, S x K
1. Punishments and Secret Conversations

Hello all, and welcome to another new fic by Lulala! I usually write in the Final Fantasy X-2 section, but after beating KH2, I simply COULD NOT RESIST writing this story XD Roxas and Namine are just so darn cute XD

**Somebodies**, By Lulala

**Rating:** T, for safety. That's always a good safe rating XD

**Summary:** Whenever Sora and Kairi are together, Roxas and Namine are. When Sora and Kairi get in a fight and stop talking to each other, Roxas and Namine are the ones that pay for it. What will they do to get Sora and Kairi back together? (R x N, S x K)

**Disclaimer:** Mhmm yeah think I'd die if I owned Sora and Riku... and since I'm still alive, I obviously don't own KH XD

* * *

"You are SO slow!" Kairi called over her shoulder in Riku's general direction. "Hurry up!"

Riku rolled his eyes. "It's not like he's going anywhere, he's grounded."

Kairi gave him a look. "We told him we'd be there ten minutes ago!"

Riku shrugged. "No need to wait for me."

Kairi continued to power walk. "Sure I do! Sora wants to see us both, I'm sure!"

Riku considered this. "I spose… since he hasn't seen the outside world since we got back."

"Yeah," Kairi nodded. Riku sped up.

"How have you been feeling?" he asked her carefully.

"Riku, honestly. I'm completely fine. I'm more worried about you…"

He sighed. "We've been over this before—"

"I still think you should go see Aerith, she could work wonders on that injury—"

"Kairi," Riku said warningly. "Don't start."

"Fine," she said, fixing her eyes on the ground. "I just worry."

"Don't," he advised.

They walked the rest of the way to Sora's house in silence. They sneaked around to the back of the house, where Sora's window was located. Riku chucked pebbles at it until Sora at last realized what the clicking noise was and came to investigate.

"You guys are so late, I thought you for sure weren't gonna come!" Sora called down to them.

"Get your butt down here!" Kairi said, retrieving a long rope ladder from a rather large hole in a nearby tree. She handed it to Riku, and he tossed it up to Sora.

Once Sora had scaled down the rope ladder, all three began to walk towards one place they knew nobody would look for them—the tree house.

"How have you been, Sora?" Kairi asked, smiling. "Glad to see you out and about, by the way!"

Sora grinned back. "I know. I'm okay. Riku, you feeling—"

"Fine," Riku interrupted shortly.

"Okay, okay," Sora relented. "Maybe, sometime soon, I'll be able to believe you."

When he and his friends arrived at the tree house they had built so long ago, Riku and Sora began sharing the stories of their previous journeys with Kairi. Sora realized immediately that no matter how much fun he had had wielding the keyblade and saving others, he would never feel more comfortable and at home than he did at that very moment.

After several hours of talking, Kairi finally asked the question that had been burning in Sora's brain for quite some time. "You guys… what about Roxas and Naminé?"

"Don't you remember? They said, just before they disappeared… that whenever we were together, they would be together," Sora reminded her.

"Oh, right…" Kairi thought in silence for a moment before saying, "Sora, do you think they're happy now?"

"Of course!" Sora replied. "We're together, aren't we?"

* * *

"Yes, we are," Naminé answered quietly. "Roxas?"

"Huh?"

"Roxas, it's Naminé!"

His eyes shot open. "No way. I can actually talk to you?"

She giggled. "Yes, Roxas. As long as Sora and Kairi are together, we are connected, and can talk as much as we want."

"Okay, that is just about the best thing ever," Roxas said, grinning. "How have you been since… you know… you became part of a somebody again?"

"It's interesting," Naminé said thoughtfully. "I know everything that Kairi thinks about… and I watch her life go by, while still being me."

"Yeah, at least you got someone who goes places," Roxas said. "Sora is grounded, and doesn't ever leave his room. You can imagine how interesting _that _is to watch."

Naminé laughed. "He sneaked out today, though… did you have anything to do with that, Roxas?"

"Nope," he replied. "I've tried yelling at the guy, but he doesn't seem to hear me."

"Kairi and I think very alike… so I haven't really tried to say anything to her yet," Naminé explained. "I should… I wonder if she would hear."

"All Sora ever does is wonder whether she likes him," Roxas told Naminé. "Does she? Maybe I could get that through to him, and he'd sneak out more often!"

Naminé giggled. "I'm not going to tell you that!"

"But you know?" Roxas asked hopefully.

"Yes, I do," Naminé replied, laughing softly. "But you never will. Boys!" She giggled again.

"Naminé!" Roxas pleaded. "He thinks she likes Riku, it's so sad… just tell me!"

Naminé shook her head, even though Roxas couldn't see it. "Nope. Sorry, Roxas!"

"Fine," he snuffed.

Naminé didn't like the silence. "Roxas… do you think we'll ever see each other again?"

"I… it's not possible. I'm a nobody… we're both nobodies," Roxas replied slowly. "Right?"

Naminé closed her eyes, and pictured Roxas's face. _To me, Roxas, you're somebody_. "I suppose you're right," Naminé sighed.

* * *

"I suppose," Kairi agreed with Sora. "Let's spend lots of time together! That way, Roxas and Naminé can be together, too!"

Riku cast her a glance. "Sora, it's getting late."

He sighed. "I know, I know… I'd better be getting home before mom notices I'm not there."

Kairi looked slightly downcast. "Guess we'll see you later, Sora."

He cracked a big, cheesy smile. "Yup!" He climbed down the ladder out of the tree house, and disappeared from sight. Kairi watched him go, a look of disappointment behind her bright blue eyes.

Riku hesitated. Asking Kairi to do something might be awkward, since she was obviously completely in love with Sora, but… she and Riku were just friends. She was his baby sister. It wasn't like that at all—but he didn't want Sora to get the wrong idea.

"Kairi? Do you want to go fishing?"

For example—the last time he had gotten the wrong idea about Sora, it had nearly cost him his life. And that was certainly not something he wanted to risk again.

* * *

Hurrah for best friends! Will Roxas and Namine ever see each other again? Will Namine ever tell Roxas the truth about Kairi's feelings for Sora? (I'm guessing no XD) Keep reading to find out!

Thank you,

Lulala


	2. Jealousy and Dreams

Time for chapter 2! Thanks to all three reviewers, you guys rock my socks :D On my KH2 game, I just beat Sephiroth, I'm really proud of myself :D never thought I'd be able to do it XD

To recap: Riku just asked Kairi to go fishing, though he doesn't want Sora to get the wrong idea.

* * *

Kairi stared at him for a moment. Then, her face cracked into a smile. "Of course, Riku! We haven't done anything since we got back, so I'd love to go fishing!"

"Great," Riku said, smiling back. "I feel bad for Sora, though."

"He can come once his mom lets him out of the house," Kairi reasoned. "Let's go grab our stuff from home, and meet at the dock!"

Riku nodded, and headed off in the direction of his house, not noticing Sora crouching behind a clump of brush.

* * *

_Fishing_? Sora thought. _Is that some code for 'come to my house and we'll fool around behind Sora's back'_? He almost burst out laughing at himself. Then again… there was a special sparkle behind Kairi's eyes… one that she used to only have when Sora was around… _Don't be stupid_, he told himself. _They wouldn't_.

* * *

Riku returned home, grabbed his fishing pole and tackle, and immediately set out for the dock. He beat Kairi, as he assumed he would—girls _always_ took forever to do _anything_—and seated himself at the end, feet hanging off. He threw his head back, and shut his eyes, absorbing the waning sunlight. He hadn't realized how late it was—almost 8, and the sun was setting. Not the best time for fishing, but any time spent with one of his two best friends made Riku feel as though maybe, just maybe, they could forget what he had done.

When Kairi arrived, they both baited their hooks and tossed them into the water. They sat there in silence, enjoying each other's company for awhile, before Kairi at last broke the silence.

"Hey Riku?"

"Hmm?"

"You know a lot about Organization XIII and nobodies, right?"

He thought about this for a moment. "Only what Diz… I mean, Ansem… taught me about them."

"So… do you think there's any way to make a nobody a somebody again?"

Riku wrinkled up his nose. "I don't think so… why?"

Kairi sighed. "It's… it's nothing. Never mind."

"Kairi, you can tell me anything," Riku said reassuringly.

"Well… lately, I've been feeling… I just… I feel like Naminé might be in love with Roxas."

Riku's eyes widened. "You can tell what your nobody is feeling?"

"I don't know… it's a weird feeling, though, I can't explain… it just seems like she's trying to tell me that," Kairi murmured. "But who knows, I could be crazy."

"No, no, you're not crazy… if only we had access to a good library, we might be able to find out if once a nobody leaves and re-enters the body… we could find out if things change," Riku mused.

"I'd really like to know," Kairi agreed. "I mean, it might just be me…"

Riku smirked. "What might just be you? Your obvious attraction to Sora?"

"Shut up!" Kairi demanded, blushing. "I never said anything!"

"Don't think that you're the only ones who know about that cave drawing," Riku teased.

Kairi gasped. "No, I knew I shouldn't have… AGH, who else knows!"

Riku laughed. "Nobody, I was kidding."

Kairi slapped his arm. "Don't you ever tease me about Sora again, Riku!"

Riku couldn't stop his laughter. "Sorry, sorry, it was just such a perfect opportunity!"

Kairi glared at him. "Oh really? I bet I could find a perfect opportunity to tease you about you and what's-her-name… oh, yeah, Maleficent?"

Riku's smile shifted to a scowl. "Wow. That was a low blow, Kairi."

She giggled. "See? I'm not completely defenseless."

"Fine, fine, I won't tease you about Sora again."

She smiled widely. "Great!"

"Roxas is, of course, open territory, though… I mean, technically, part of you likes him, right?"

Kairi let out a sigh of frustration while Riku laughed his butt off.

* * *

Sora watched them from the woods, which was far enough away that he couldn't hear anything, but had a pretty good view of what they were doing. His jealousy rising by the second, he became suddenly aware of how long he had been away from home—his mother was sure to notice. Pulling a face, he walked back towards his house, thinking about Kairi and Riku all the way. If only he had heard the actual conversation.

* * *

Naminé busied herself with trying to help Kairi in any way that she possibly could. Being a nobody was usually pretty boring business, but since she still was aware that she was herself and not actually Kairi, she at least tried to help. Lately, her greatest effort had been attempting to drag Kairi's thoughts in the direction of Sora. The more Kairi thought about Sora, the more she would realize how much she wanted to spend time with him.

And, the more time Kairi spent with Sora, the more time Naminé spent with Roxas. Simple as that. Girls, being as perceptive as they were, could obviously tell if something was up—Kairi, for example, had noticed that her thoughts were unusually focused on Sora, and she came to her own conclusions. All of her conclusions, of course… were correct.

Naminé mentally kicked herself. Now, that boy, Riku, would blab to Sora about what Kairi had said, and Roxas would find out—not good. All she could do was wait for the next time she could talk to Roxas and explain herself. Then again, what did it matter? It's not like she and Roxas could ever be together anyway…

Unless…

Sora and Kairi got together.

But… how would she go about setting them up?

* * *

As Sora wandered home, his thoughts were racing from Kairi, to Riku, and… well, mostly Kairi. He wasn't quite sure why she had been on his mind so much lately—sure, he had had a crush on her for freakin' ever, but had never done anything about it. Now that she was with Riku, it didn't seem like there was any point to speaking up.

Riku was the dark, hot, moody type that girls always went for. And Sora was the goofy, sweet, dorky guy that always lost to the hot moody types. _Perfect_. _Just perfect_. He climbed back into his room. It didn't seem as though his mother had checked to make sure he was still there—she probably figured he was too much of a good boy to go anywhere when he was grounded. Either way, he collapsed onto his bed after stowing the rope ladder in his bottom dresser drawer. He doubted he'd be needing it… Riku and Kairi would probably just do things without him for the rest of the time he was grounded.

He stared up at the ceiling, feeling more miserable than he had since he found out that Xemnas and Saix had been using him to gather hearts, and that all the work he had done may have been for nothing. He eventually drifted off into a sleep plagued by dreams that always ended in Kairi and Riku shoving him out of the tree house and living happily ever after.

* * *

_This boy is absolutely nuts_, Roxas thought to himself. _He thinks Kairi would go for a guy like Riku? What a dope. If I know anything about Naminé… oh, wait. She's not Naminé. She's Kairi.

* * *

_

That night, Kairi dreamed about Sora all night. She had three different ones, all of which ended in Sora confessing his feelings for her, and them getting along famously for the rest of forever. _Ah_, she thought, _if only they were true_.

She decided maybe, just maybe, these dreams could possibly mean something… She quickly dressed with one thought burning in her mind: she had to sneak into Sora's room and talk to him. There was no other way to find out if her dreams were just dreams, or if they were something more. She slipped out of her house without a problem, and made the short walk to Sora's house, head swimming with thoughts of Sora. She reached his bedroom window before long, and realized immediately that getting his attention would be much more difficult than when Riku had been with her.

She tossed pebbles at his window for awhile. Her aim was poor, and the idea had completely crashed and burned—there had to be another way… She searched for the rope ladder in the tree, but found that the gigantic hole was empty. _That Sora, I guess he didn't put it back yesterday…

* * *

_

Naminé was panicking. There was no way Kairi could leave when they were so close to Sora! She frantically began thinking of anything she could possibly do to help Kairi, until an idea popped into her head.

"ROXAS!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. "ROXAS, WAKE UP!" She prayed fervently that she was close enough for him to hear her screams.

A few moments later, Sora'shead, spiky hair ruffled and eyes barely open, popped out the window. "Anybody down there…? Oh, Kairi! What are you doing here?"

Naminé grinned to herself. Now, things would start to get interesting…

* * *

For the record, I love writing this story. Aaaanyway, will Riku spill the beans to Sora about what Kairi told him? Will Kairi find out if her dreams were just dreams? Will Roxas EVER get through to Sora? (Prooobably not XD) read chapter 3, coming soon, to find out!

Thanks for reading,

Lulala


	3. Fighting and Insaneness

Hello, all! I had a nasty bout with writer's block, but I'm back with a vengeance!

Quick note: Just for clarification, I don't 'ship' S x K. I 'ship' R x N. S x K just happens to be necessary in this particular fic. Poor nobodies.

Enjoy!

* * *

Sora quickly retrieved the rope ladder from his bottom dresser drawer, and tossed it over the windowsill. Kairi scaled it quickly, and climbed into his room. He couldn't believe that he had randomly jolted awake when Kairi had been standing outside of his window. Then again, there was no way he was complaining—in fact, his luck seemed absolutely unreal. His thoughts began racing—was Kairi here to confess to being madly in love with Riku? Or, as he hoped, was she here to confess something else…?

"How have you been?" Kairi asked. "Since… you know… yesterday?"

"Fine," Sora replied. "Mom didn't catch me."

"That's good news," Kairi said, smiling slightly.

* * *

"The way you woke me up really sucked, you know," Roxas told Naminé, laughing.

Naminé grinned. "There was no other way! I'm sorry."

"No, it's okay… you just must have been really desperate to talk to me."

Naminé hesitated. "Yeah… I'd much rather see you, though."

"And unfortunately, that's not possible," Roxas said, disappointed.

"How's Sora?"

"He thinks Kairi likes Riku," Roxas answered. "He's not too bright, I'm finding out."

"Oh, well," Naminé shrugged. "They'll figure out they like each other eventually."

"So she does like him?" Roxas brightened up. "Perfect! Let's just get them together, and—"

"How, Roxas?" Naminé asked. "I mean, I've already thought this through, and I didn't have any good ideas."

Roxas thought for a moment. "Hmm… you're right. There isn't anything we can really do."

"So," Naminé said casually. "Has Sora talked to Riku since yesterday?"

"Nope," Roxas replied. "Why?"

"No reason," Naminé said. "Wanna know why Kairi is here?"

"Uh, yeah," Roxas said immediately. "I tried to think of why you—I mean, she would be here, but…"

"She's been having dreams about Sora, and wants to find out if they're more than just dreams," Naminé told him.

"Good dreams?" Roxas asked.

"Yeah," Naminé answered slowly. "Why?"

"Sora has been having _very_ bad dreams about Kairi and Riku pushing him out of tree houses," Roxas told her.

"Uh oh," Naminé groaned.

* * *

"Why are you here?" Sora finally asked her, sounding a little bitter.

"Sora, I'm your friend. Am I not allowed here or something?" Kairi asked, taken aback.

Sora sighed. "It's complicated."

Kairi's eyes narrowed. "Friendship isn't complicated, Sora."

Sora remained silent.

"Do you want to come to the secret place with me?" Kairi asked him, mind fluttering to the place where she knew a certain drawing was, which would make things a whole lot easier for Sora to understand.

"I can't leave. I'm grounded, remember?"

"Didn't stop you yesterday," Kairi pointed out.

"I can't, Kairi, I'm sorry."

"Fine. Then, let's talk about dreams. What have you been dreaming about lately?" she asked.

"Nothing," Sora lied. "Nothing important, anyway."

Kairi watched him carefully. "Liar."

"Fine. You and Riku keep pushing me out of the tree house, in every dream that I have," Sora confessed, eyes focused on the ground.

Kairi gasped. "Sora, we'd never do that!"

He looked up at her, and stared her down. "You sure?"

"Yes!" Kairi insisted, still shocked. "I can't believe you'd ever even think that!"

"It's not that hard for me to think, when, you know, I see you chasing after Riku," Sora said, surprised that the thing that had been ripping at his insides had popped out of his mouth that easily.

"_What_?"

"Don't think I didn't see your little fishing expedition."

"Yeah, you didn't. You were here… weren't you?"

"No. I followed you," Sora confessed, suddenly feeling ashamed of himself.

"Sora… you're crazy," Kairi said flatly. "There is no way that Riku and me—"

"Whatever," Sora muttered.

"You know what? I thought you were nicer… no, smarter… than this," Kairi said, voice quivering. "If you had half a brain, you could figure out what's really going on here!" She halfway leaped out the window, scaled down the ladder, and took off back towards her house.

* * *

"No way… they're fighting!" Roxas exclaimed.

"Roxas, Kairi is going to leave… Roxas!" Naminé shouted as Kairi climbed out the window. "Roxas, I need to say something!"

"Naminé, I don't know when I'll talk to you again, but I wanted to tell you—!"

His voice cut off, and Naminé knew that she was too far away to talk to him anymore. As Kairi cried, Naminé felt no relief, and was suddenly jealous—why couldn't she, Naminé, cry? She was just as upset as Kairi. What had she done to deserve this? _Sora and Kairi may fight, but they're not the ones who really get hurt_, Naminé thought bitterly. _If only I could be a somebody_.

* * *

_I can't believe she's gone_, Roxas thought. _I wonder if I'll ever see—I mean, talk to her again. I can only hope that Sora comes around, or I'll never get to tell her._ _She saved me, back in Twilight Town… and at the same time, she destroyed me. In the end, though, we both lost. So… what now? We're trapped inside other people's bodies… our original home… and can never speak again. I suppose if she hadn't been so great… it wouldn't be this bad.

* * *

_

Sora sat, thoroughly miserable, on the edge of his bed. Somehow, getting his feelings out hadn't helped as much as he thought it would. In fact, it made him feel much worse than he had before.

Kairi had called him stupid, basically. She had said something was going on… and now Sora's brain was wracked with curiosity. _What in the world is going on here_? If only he was still friends with Kairi. Maybe, just maybe, talking to Riku would be a good idea. As long as, you know, he didn't mention anything about him and Kairi, Sora figured he'd slide by without losing another friend.

* * *

As Riku walked to Sora's house, he heard sobbing coming from behind a tree. He peered cautiously around the trunk of the tree, and found Kairi leaning up against the other side of the tree, tears steadily flowing down her cheeks.

"Kairi, are you okay?" Riku asked immediately, worried.

"No," Kairi replied, sniffling. "Sora and I—w-we had a fight."

"You and Sora had a _fight_?"

"Uh-huh," she said, wiping the tears from her face hastily. "It was about… he thinks you and me are—"

"Damn," Riku swore. "I knew he'd frickin' follow us. Listen, Kairi… you're my baby sister. No offense. I guess I'd better go talk to him."

Kairi nodded, and Riku pulled her into a hug.

_I wish I could be a somebody_.

"Why would you wish that?" Riku asked. "You already are one."

"Riku… I didn't say anything."

"_What_!" Was he insane?

_I want to be able to cry… I'll never see Roxas again_.

"Kairi?"

"Hmm?"

"You're crying."

"I know."

Thoroughly confused, Riku wondered why in the world Kairi would be saying things like this. He looked at her, still confused, until he heard the voice again.

_He can hear me, I think_. Kairi's lips hadn't moved.

_I can_, Riku thought. _Who are you?_

But there was no reply.

"Riku? Could you go talk to Sora?" Kairi asked, hastily wiping away tears.

He nodded. "I'll get this fixed, don't worry."

* * *

As Riku trudged to Sora's house, he was deep in thought. Who in the world had spoken to him? There was no way it could have been Kairi, she didn't have any desire to see Roxas. Thanks to Kairi, however, Riku knew someone who wanted to see Roxas very badly.

Naminé.

But there was no way he could possibly have communicated with Naminé… could he? He wasn't a nobody, she didn't exist anymore, and he was relatively certain that he wasn't insane. There was just no way. Then again… if Kairi could feel what Naminé felt at certain times… Riku knew he'd have to take this up with the King eventually, but at the moment, he had to attend to more pressing matters.

How in the world was he going to fix what he had broken between Sora and Kairi?

He figured he probably wouldn't be a welcome visitor to Sora's house, but knew that he had to do _something_ to fix this—it was partially his fault. When he reached Sora's window, he was relieved to see that he wouldn't have to go hunting around for pebbles to get Sora's attention—Sora was looking out the window, staring off into space.

"Sora!" he called up to him.

Sora stared down at him. "Wow, you picked a good time to come here."

Riku rolled his eyes. "I ran into Kairi, and she told me what happened."

Sora stared at him.

"Everything," Riku said. "And you're wrong, Sora."

Sora looked up at the sky. "I figured."

Riku laughed. "You did not! Liar, liar."

"Okay, fine, I really thought you wanted her for like a second there," Sora admitted. "So, whatever, I guess."

"Not, 'whatever'," Riku said. "Go find her and apologize or something. She's really sad."

Sora stared off into space again. "I just don't know."

"Wow. What's got you all freaking out?" Riku asked, surprised that Sora wasn't jumping at his chance to make up with Kairi.

"It's like… I don't know. I feel like maybe it would… you know… wreck our friendship if something were to happen between her and me," Sora explained.

"Wait… you mean… _our_ friendship?" Riku questioned, confused.

"Yeah. Cause we'd be leaving you out sometimes and stuff."

Riku chuckled a little. "Sora, Sora, Sora… If you don't think I can deal with that, you've got another thing coming. Just don't ever break up… cause then, things would be a little awkward."

"Just go find yourself a girl, and maybe, just maybe I'll say something to Kairi… or something."

"Stop whining, Sora," Riku said. "Stop it and go apologize."

_Yeah. You should totally go apologize, jerk._

Riku froze. Sora's mouth had not moved. _Oh, not again, _Riku thought.

_Not again what?_

_Damn_, Riku swore to himself. _It's happening…_

_What, have you talked to me before? I don't recognize you…_

_I… Do you want to talk to Naminé? _Riku thought desperately.

_Yeah, yeah! How'd you know?_

_Wild guess, _Riku thought sheepishly.

"I think I'll let her cool off for awhile," Sora was saying. "Riku? You okay?"

"Yeah, yeah," Riku murmured. _I'd better go find out what's going on with me_.

* * *

Dadadummm... Riku's going insane! Who will he talk to to find out what's going on? What IS going on? Read chapter 4, coming soon, to find out!

Thanks for reading!

Lulala


	4. The King's 'Discovery'

Okay I am completely addicted to this fic :D

This chapter was fun for me, but I think I went a bit crazy with theories and explanations, so if there is any confusion, just send me a message and I'll get it cleared up. Mostly, I'm just guessing on this stuff, since we don't know much about nobodies... but, hey, this is my fictional world, darn it, and I'll make up stuff about nobodies if it fits with the storiesXD

THANK YOU SO MUCH to ALL of these FANTASTIC reviewers! It means the world to me, no kidding. And I'm not really sure if I should send replies, cause I'm not sure that you guys like that... or if you think it's creepy. XD

Anyways. Enjoy the chapter!

* * *

In a matter of hours, using a special walkie-talkie that the King had sent over from his world to communicate, Riku was aboard an airship bound for Disney Castle. As Goofy and Donald piloted it in to the world, Riku thought of all the questions he needed to ask the King. Why in the world was he hearing voices? Why could Kairi tell what Naminé was feeling?

"It's been a long time since we have heard from you," Donald said to Riku. "How's Sora?"

"Eh, not so good," Riku admitted. "He got in a fight with Kairi today."

"Fight? That's not like Sora at all," Goofy said, eyeing Riku incredulously.

"He's a little paranoid," Riku told them. "I'll just let him chill for awhile… I have a few things I need to talk to the King about."

"He has something to show you, too," Goofy said. "A discovery."

Riku brightened up. "A discovery? What kind?"

"You'll see," Goofy replied, grinning.

When they landed, Riku was led to the King's study immediately. When he got there, the King's discovery was not at all what he had imagined. He walked in, expecting to find the King hard at work on something regarding the heartless, but instead found him studying a girl. She had shoulder-length, dark brown hair, and warm brown eyes, which were giving Riku an extremely cold stare.

"Oh, Riku! Great to see ya!" Mickey said, smiling widely. "It's been awhile! Questions for me, I hear."

"Yeah," Riku nodded. He couldn't help staring right back at the girl. She was, after all, pretty good looking. "Who's this, your majesty?"

"This," the King began, "is Asahi. Found in the World That Never Was."

"_What_?" Riku said in disbelief, tearing his gaze away from Asahi and back onto the King.

She stood up. "Yeah. I was locked up there by the ugly guy with the weird sword, and forgotten about." She stared Riku down, daring him to challenge her. "And you are?"

"Riku," he said, giving her a small smile. "The man who locked you up would be Saix," he filled in for her. "Why was he keeping you there?"

"I research nobodies," she told him. "They found me snooping around."

"Awesome… the researching, I mean. It works out perfect, actually, cause I came to ask the King about nobodies…"

"Okay, Riku. Shoot," the King said.

"So… if a nobody were to leave a body, and then re-enter the body… would it be… I don't know… different?" Riku ventured, unsure of how to phrase the question.

The King thought for a moment. "Asahi? What do you think?"

"Not much research has been done on it, but I'm sure the bond between the body and the nobody would not be as strong," Asahi said knowledgeably.

"So the nobody could escape?"

"It's not unheard of," she replied. "But it would have nowhere to go, and would most likely fade away."

"Most likely?"

"Well, if a nobody were to ever feel a real, true human feeling… a miracle might happen," she said vaguely. "Since no nobody has ever felt a true human emotion, we can't be sure."

"Okay, so… if they felt, say, love… what would happen?"

"They could become real. They could disintegrate forever. Nobody knows," Asahi told him. "Like I said, a nobody has never felt a human emotion before. If one did, though… the chances of something happening like that are very high."

Riku was still confused. "Why is that?"

"Because the whole point of a nobody is that they don't exist… they don't have hearts, and they don't have emotions. So, wouldn't you venture to guess that something different would happen if they did have an actual emotion, or overcame their lack of heart?"

The King was watching Asahi and Riku with interest, but remained silent. "I suppose that makes sense," Riku agreed. "Okay, I have another question… if a nobody were less attached to its body, do you think the person would be able to… I don't know… feel what the nobody was feeling?"

"Possibly," the King stepped in. "Not much is known about when a nobody re-enters a body, Riku… it hardly ever happens."

"Oh, okay," he said, a little disappointed. "So. Is it possible for a person, say, me, to hear what my friend's nobody is thinking?"

Asahi jumped at the chance to answer this question. "I read once that if you don't have a nobody, you might just hear things like that. Then again, I guess it helps that the nobodies you're talking about are potentially less attached to their bodies than normal ones."

_Do I have a nobody?_ Riku thought to himself. "Are you sure that's the only way?"

"Okay, Riku… let's guess that all nobodies can communicate with each other. If you don't have a nobody, it only makes sense that you'd be able to hear it, doesn't it?" Asahi said, smiling a little.

Things were staring to add up for Riku. He could hear Roxas and Naminé, because for some reason, he didn't have a nobody anymore. Sora and Kairi had lived for a long time without theirs, so obviously, he could survive without his. Roxas and Naminé were possibly experiencing a true human emotion, and could potentially break free of Sora and Kairi's bodies.

Though he knew a lot more than before he came to the castle, he suddenly got an idea. "Your majesty? Would it be possible for Asahi to come to Destiny Islands for awhile?"

The King looked a little surprised. "I mean… I suppose she could, since it'll be a few days before I can find her world, but… be careful!"

Asahi smiled at the King. "Don't worry. I can defend myself."

With that, she followed Riku back to the gummi ship, and Donald and Goofy took them back to Destiny Islands.

* * *

As they rode back, Asahi and Riku talked all the way. She had seemed pretty mean when he first had met her, but had softened up considerably. In reality, she was a sweet, strong girl, and Riku couldn't help but like her, just a little. Of course, he knew there was no chance—she was a year and a half older than him—but that didn't mean he couldn't talk to her.

"So, you really think you've been hearing your friends' nobodies?" she asked him, raising an eyebrow.

"I know it sounds insane, but I'm almost sure of it," Riku told her. "I mean, they talk about missing one another, and my friend Kairi thinks her nobody might be in love with my friend Sora's nobody…"

Asahi watched him, eyes wide. "If they really do fall in love with each other, this could be like… a major discovery, Riku! I'm so happy I came with you… cause if something ends up happening, I want to see it!"

He stared straight ahead, deep in thought. "I'm not sure if something will happen."

"Where do you think your nobody went?" Asahi asked.

"Not sure," Riku replied. He wasn't quite sure he was ready to tell her about his stint in the darkness, though that was likely the cause.

"When we get to Destiny Island, can I meet your friends?" she asked.

"Yeah, of course," Riku said. "You'll like them, I promise."

She smiled. "If they're friends with you, they must be amazing!"

_You have no idea_, he thought. "So, Asahi, do you have a nobody?"

She shook her head. "The organization that I work for destroyed it. They didn't want to risk it breaking free."

"Smart," Riku commented. "If only they had destroyed Xemnas. It would have saved us a ton of trouble."

She laughed. "Glad to hear you and your friend beat him, though."

"It was hard," Riku admitted. "He got me, right at the end. Pretty bad leg injury."

Asahi's eyes widened. "Are you okay now?"

Riku smiled a little. "Definitely. Don't worry."

The gummi ship landed. Riku thanked Donald and Goofy profusely, and led Asahi off of the ship. As she stepped down onto the sand, her face lit up. "The whole thing is a beach!"

Riku chuckled. "Most of it is, anyway."

"Awesome!" she squealed, immediately removing her shoes.

"Let's go find Sora," Riku suggested, laughing.

Asahi shot him a grin, and followed him across the beach and into the woods. Disappointed, Asahi put her shoes back on. "Forest," she whined. "I liked the beach better!"

"It's just a little ways in here," Riku assured her, following the path. When they came upon Sora's house, he was sitting placidly on the ground beneath his window.

"Are you grounded still?" Riku asked Sora.

Sora was staring at Asahi. "I figured mom wouldn't mind if I sat right here," Sora said, eyes still locked on her.

"This is Asahi," Riku told him. "She's an expert on nobodies."

_An expert? Yeah, right. We don't exist, so there is no such thing._

Riku looked at Asahi, and saw that her eyes were wide. "You heard it too?" he mumbled to her.

She nodded. "So that's why you asked if I had one… you're not insane after all, Riku!"

"What are you guys talking about?" Sora asked, confused.

"Nothing," Riku insisted. "Asahi, would you like to go meet Kairi now?"

Sora eyed Riku. Riku sighed. "You haven't talked to her yet, have you?"

Sora shook his head. "I couldn't."

Riku sighed again. "Sora… there's only so much I can do. I'll try to talk to her, but I can't guarantee a thing."

"You work wonders, Riku. I have faith in you," Sora said, plastering a big, cheesy smile on his face. "Thanks for staying to, you know, talk for awhile!"

Riku rolled his eyes. "No problem."

_Oh my God. He is going insane_.

Riku cast a knowing glance at Asahi, who still couldn't believe that she was hearing the voices, too. "Nice meeting you, Asahi," Sora said, still smiling.

"Yeah," she agreed. "See you later!"

Once they were out of earshot of Sora, Riku looked over at Asahi. "So, it turns out I'm not crazy."

She smiled a little. "Yeah, you're not. Either that, or we both are."

"He sure was in a bad mood today," Riku said.

"Riku," Asahi said, sighing. "He wants to speak to the other nobody. Obviously."

"I know, but at the rate Sora is moving, they'll be twenty before they talk again," Riku said cynically. "He's impossible."

Asahi looked thoughtful. "Maybe if I talked to him… you know, gave him a little bit of girl advice… he'd get moving," she suggested.

It was official: Asahi was brilliant. "Great idea!" Riku said enthusiastically. "I'll take you back there later, and you can persuade him to go apologize to Kairi!"

She smiled. "Okay… I'm a pro at giving girl advice, don't you worry."

"It would be sad if you weren't good at it… considering, you know, you _are _a girl," Riku pointed out.

Asahi gave him a look. "I noticed, actually."

He smirked at her sheepishly, and she rolled her eyes. "Smart ass," she mumbled under her breath.

"I heard that!"

She giggled. "That was the idea."

Before they knew it, they were standing on Kairi's front step. Riku jabbed his finger on the small, round white button, and waited. Moments later, Kairi pulled the door open, looking as though she had done a bit of crying since Riku had left her in the woods.

"Wow, Riku," she said, brightening a little. "You've been gone _forever_, I thought maybe Sora had killed you!"

He laughed nervously. "Hmm, no… I went to visit the King."

"Wow, it was a quick trip, then," she said, eyes locking on Asahi. "Hey, I'm Kairi!"

Asahi smiled. "I'm Asahi. Great to meet you!"

Kairi stepped out onto the front step. "Let's go to the beach or something, you'll like that," she said to Asahi. "It's amazing."

They took the path in the woods to the beach, which was only a short walk away. When they were at last seated on the warm sand under the waning sun, Kairi asked Asahi, "So, where are you from?"

"Well… I travel a lot, because I research nobodies for my job," she explained.

_Expert? Really? I wonder if she'd be able to help me…_

Asahi got a deer-in-headlights look on her face, and cast a quick glance at Riku. He nodded a little, and she took that to mean that he also heard the voice.

"That's pretty cool," Kairi said. "How did you meet Riku?"

"I was being held prisoner in The World That Never Was… they caught me snooping around there," she told Kairi. "If I remember, I think I saw them bringing you in, too."

"Hmm… I'm not sure I remember…" Kairi tapped her chin thoughtfully.

"I wouldn't be surprised," Asahi said with a little laugh. "You looked either really scared or extremely pissed."

"A little of both," Kairi said, grinning.

_She wouldn't have even gotten out without me. And look. This is what I get for helping her and Sora out, I suppose._

Riku couldn't take it anymore. _Naminé… we're going to help you. Please. Just hang on._

_I'd be grateful, I suppose._

Riku smirked. _Good. Don't worry. We'll have Sora's brain fixed in no time._

_

* * *

_

Okay. So. OC. I didn't just add her so Riku has a girl. She actually HAS a purpose, I swear! Which is not to be Riku's darling. Sorry XD ANYWAY, I hope you liked it:D

Thanks for reading!

Lulala


	5. Does this mean you're admitting it?

Woot, major long-ness! I really had trouble finding a place I was happy to cut this one off at. And just to answer questions: My OC's main purpose is not to be Riku's girl. I'm not even going to guarantee that she'll end up Riku's girl, because what fun would that be? A lot of you are probably expecting that XD

Loooots of dialogue, but I tried tomake it worth reading. Next chapter will be MUCH more interesting... just had to get the ball rolling a little bit. This chapter is a little bit more slanted toward S x K, but next chapter will be almost all R x N. So don't worry, all! I also have my next KH fic started, so look for a special preview at the end of this one!

PS, THANK YOU REVIEWERS! You make all of this completely worth writing :D Enjoy, all!

* * *

The next morning, Asahi woke with a start. She rolled out of bed, and pulled herself to her feet. Where in the world was she… and who's shirt was she wearing! Then, it all came flooding back to her—she was at Riku's house, wearing his clothes… and there was nothing to panic about. Feeling stupid, she walked across the room, changed clothes, and decided to see if Riku was awake. She slowly opened the door to her room, and crept across the hallway. Riku's door was still shut.

She smirked a little, and quietly pushed it open. He was still asleep, but she couldn't resist going over and taking a quick look at him. She sighed as she took in his amazing, shirtless form. _There is no way that this guy is 16_, she thought. _He's ripped, seriously_. Her small smile stretched a bit when she noticed the look on his face—peaceful. Adorable.

She ripped her gaze from him, and sighed again to herself. She knew she'd eventually have to return to her world, but… there was no harm in looking, was there?

Grinning widely, she went over all of the possible ways she could wake him up. She eventually decided that sitting on him would wield the most satisfying results, and promptly plopped down directly on his stomach.

He grunted, and cracked open his eyes. "Okay. What the hell."

She laughed. "Figured it would be the best way to wake you up!"

He smiled crookedly back at her, growing more awake by the second. "Seriously, best way anyone has ever woken me up."

"Aww, that takes all the fun out of it," she said, sliding off of his stomach and back onto solid ground.

"What, that you didn't bother me? You should be happy that you pretty much made my life," Riku joked.

Asahi rolled her eyes. "You have never, nor will you ever again have a chick sitting on you."

He chuckled a little. "Haha, and on that, I beg to differ."

She rolled her eyes again, and gave him a look of disapproval.

"Sorry, sorry," he said, pulling himself out of bed. "Only kidding."

She sighed. She knew he was trying to be funny, but it made her feel bad—she knew she was in too deep already, and that leaving here would most definitely be difficult.

"Are you ready for a whole day with Sora?" Riku asked her, pulling a shirt on.

"It'll be fun," she assured him. "Sora seems like a nice guy."

"Yeah, he's nice all right," Riku agreed. "But lately, he's been a little… off."

"Because of his fight with Kairi," Asahi filled in. "He has every right to be upset."

Riku's eyes shot up toward the ceiling. "Uh-huh. Since he started it and everything."

"Riku, has your mother taught you nothing? It doesn't matter who starts the fight… it's who's mature enough to stop it," Asahi told him.

"And since Sora is definitely lacking in the maturity department…"

Asahi giggled. "Be nice, Riku!"

He flashed a cheesy grin. "I'm always nice."

Asahi rolled her eyes. "Right, right. Hurry up, let's go!"

She left the room, and he finished changing clothes. He quickly brushed his long, silvery hair, and hurried out of his room and down the stairs, where Asahi was waiting for him.

Before long, they were making the short walk to Sora's house. "So, we're supposed to be on the dock at 1:00?" Asahi asked uncertainly.

"Yup, 1:00," Riku affirmed. "While I'm at Kairi's, I'll see if she has some extra clothes for you."

Asahi smiled a little. "Thanks, that's really nice of you."

"Like I said, I'm always nice."

She tried to fight a smile. "Right, right."

* * *

Once they had arrived at Sora's, Riku was relieved to see that Sora was staring out his window absently. Riku got his attention quickly, and Sora pushed open the window. "Riku, Asahi? What are you guys doing here?" he asked, cocking his head to one side.

"Just came to visit," Riku said. "Can we come up, or are you coming down?"

"I am most definitely coming down," Sora said immediately. "I am so sick of this room!" His head disappeared for a moment. Suddenly, a rope ladder dropped from the window. Sora's legs popped out of the window, and he began to climb down.

When he at last touched the ground, he seemed much happier than the day before. "Have you talked to Kairi?" Riku asked expectantly.

Sora shook his head. "No, but… I'll get around to it… eventually…"

Riku rolled his eyes. "Oh, damn… sorry, Sora, left something at my house… Asahi, do you mind staying here with him for awhile?"

"Only if Sora's okay with it," Asahi said, glancing over at him to see his reaction.

"Yeah, yeah, go ahead, Riku," Sora said, waving him away. "Asahi and I will have lots of fun." He grinned widely.

_That's the Sora I know_, Riku thought as he walked away.

_Really? The Sora _you_ know? Cause even if he seems that way out there, in here, he's still going nuts._

Riku rubbed his temples. This was getting just a little bit weird.

* * *

Asahi sat by Sora on the ground, making forced small talk. She needed to find the best way to strike up a conversation about Kairi. When their pointless conversation about Asahi's world was over, she finally found an opening.

"So, Sora… why is Riku on your back so much about apologizing to Kairi?" Asahi asked innocently.

Sora, naturally, assumed that Asahi was just curious, and that she didn't really have a secret underhanded mission, so he said, "We've just been friends for awhile."

Asahi smiled a little. "Those are the best kind of friends, aren't they?"

Sora nodded, staring off into space. "Yeah. And, I guess he thinks the fight was over something really stupid."

She looked over at him. "Oh, really? If you don't mind me asking, what was so stupid about it?" At this point, it was absolutely blowing her mind that he was so easy to talk to, and was telling her everything without her having to pry at all.

He smiled a little. "Oh, trust me. It's pretty stupid."

Asahi continued to gaze at him expectantly.

"I thought that she was in love with Riku," Sora admitted.

Asahi burst out laughing. "You've got to be kidding me. Sora, that's crazy!"

Sora covered his face with his hands. "I know! It's only because I saw them together, being all happy and stuff… and now that I was so horrible to her about it, there's no way I can apologize."

Asahi smiled to herself. _Yup, you're a stubborn one. Had you pegged from the start_. "I mean, if Riku wasn't Riku, that might be an easy mistake to make. But, Kairi and Riku? He's really, really not her type, and she is definitely not his type," Asahi said to Sora.

"What is his type, then?" Sora asked, raising his eyebrows.

_Damn_, Asahi thought. _Is he… what is he doing? How could he know? He's so oblivious to his own feelings…_ She thought about his question for a moment. "Riku's kind of girl is someone who comes off tough, but is sweet on the inside," she said. "Just like him."

"Someone like you," Sora filled in. "You're nice, but could still kick my ass—that kind of thing."

Asahi stared at him. "M-me? And Riku? Get real!" she laughed nervously.

Sora smirked a little. "O-kay, then. That's kind of the same thing as saying, 'Me? And Kairi? Get real!'."

_He's much smarter than Riku thought_, Asahi thought, panicking. She wasn't sure what to say or do—anything she said, at this point, would give herself away. Saying it out loud would make it true, and that was the last thing she wanted.

_Okay, he may be a little smart, but let's not get carried away_, came the voice that sounded oddly like Sora.

_He really likes Kairi, doesn't he_? Asahi asked.

_Yeah, he does,_ the voice replied. _If you happen to, you know, have a chat with her nobody anytime soon, could you tell her I say hi_?

Asahi fought a smile. _Absolutely_.

"Asahi? So are you admitting it then?" Sora asked, grinning.

Asahi stared straight into his bright blue eyes. Somehow, she felt incredibly at ease, and that this guy could definitely be trusted. She ripped her eyes away from his, and stared at the ground. "To be honest, I… I just… I'm just not sure."

Sora jumped to his feet and pumped his fist in the air triumphantly. "YES, I KNEW IT!" he yelled at the top of his voice. He sat back down again, and was normal again just as quickly as he had gone crazy. "Sorry about that. I'm not right about this stuff very often."

_I can see that_, Asahi thought. "So, when do you think you're going to apologize to Kairi?" she asked, forcibly steering the conversation away from herself and back on to him.

"I told you, I can't," Sora replied, downcast. "After going off on her like that and making all those accusations… there's no way."

Asahi looked over at him. "Well… I mean, I suppose that makes _loads _of sense. Why not accuse her of something that you don't have any proof of, make her feel horrible, and then refuse to apologize to her when you know you were wrong? Sounds perfectly logical, yeah?"

Sora suddenly looked more ashamed and hurt than Asahi had meant for him to be. "I guess, when you put it that way…"

Inside her head, Asahi was doing a victory dance. He would talk to Kairi before the day was out, she knew he would… "See what I mean, Sora?"

He nodded. "Wow… I can't believe I actually did that stuff…"

"Listen," Asahi began gently. "I know it's really hard to apologize, but… in the long run, you'll be even more miserable if you don't. Riku has told me all about you and Kairi, and I think it's really important to her… and to you… that you guys make up."

Sora sighed. "You're right. You are absolutely right."

_So I can sit here screaming at him all day long without a breakthrough, and you talk to him for twenty minutes and suddenly he's ready to fix his friendship? Somehow, that seems a little wrong_.

Asahi had to restrain herself to keep from cracking up. His nobody just picked the worst times to stick in his two cents, didn't he? "Sora… you love her, don't you?"

His cheeks turned pink, and stared at the ground.

She smiled. "Does this mean you're admitting it?"

He shot her a look. "I never said anything!"

"Ah, but it's what you _didn't_ say that says everything!" Asahi pointed out, giggling. "Sora and Kairi, sittin' in a—"

"Oh my god," Sora cut her off. "Not the song, anything but that song!"

Asahi laughed. "I'm going to guess that you two have been tormented with that song for your whole lives?"

"See, and since you know that, I know you won't sing it," Sora said, grinning widely.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that…" she smirked.

"Yeah, well, I'll have to sing that song about you, too, then," Sora countered.

She looked at him pleadingly. "Don't! Okay, okay… let's just make a deal. No singing. Besides, I don't even know _what _I'm thinking right now about him."

Sora raised an eyebrow. "Really? Does he confuse you?"

Asahi shook her head. "No, it's just… I don't want to get into any trouble here, and to me… that's the biggest kind of trouble you could get into."

Sora laughed. "Trouble? That's hilarious!"

Asahi rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Yeah, maybe to you, since your little lover girl is staying here. I, unfortunately, have to go back home soon."

Sora turned his head to face her. "Do you?"

"Yeah, in a few days—"

"Do you?" he repeated.

Her face was wrinkled in an incredulous expression. "What are you trying to say?"

"I just thought it was a fair question," Sora said, shrugging his shoulders.

Asahi shut her eyes. Why was it that this little, tiny island held the most complex people she had ever met in her life?

* * *

As Riku trotted towards Kairi's house, he wondered what sort of luck Asahi was having with Sora. Maybe, just maybe, she did know what she was talking about. In any case, Riku was undeniably glad that he had met her. For one, she could help him figure out all this nobody business, and for another, she could get Sora to talk to Kairi again.

Though their fight was technically none of his business, the thought that he was the cause absolutely burned at his insides, and he knew it would until they made up. There was no way he was letting his best friends stop being friends over something like this.

When he arrived at Kairi's, he rang the doorbell, and waited patiently. She answered the door, still in her pajamas, and looking as though she had spent most of the night awake. Her hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail, and her face was pale with dark circles under her captivating blue eyes, which seemed to have lost their sparkle.

"Oh. Hey Riku."

"Morning sunshine," he teased, grinning.

"Shut up," she commanded, allowing him into the house. "Why are you here?"

"Just thought I'd come visit is all," Riku said, shrugging. "Check on you, you know…"

"I am absolutely fine, Riku," she said, eyes drooping. "Wouldn't you be, too?" Her words were quiet and almost slurred as she fought back a yawn.

Riku's eyes shot up towards the ceiling. "Kairi…"

"Don't even mention him," she said flatly. "Not a word about him."

"Okay… hey, Asahi might be staying in town for a few more days… do you have any clothes that you don't want that she might be able to borrow?" he asked, watching Kairi, who was nearly asleep on her feet.

"Oh, yeah—" her voice was interrupted by a yawn, "—I bet I do… let's go look."

Riku followed her up the stairs to her house, praying that shewouldn't fall backward onto him. "Kairi… exactly how late were you up?"

"Oh, I'm not really sure," she murmured. "I just… I don't really know…"

_She is completely zonked_, Riku thought. _I've never seen her this way before_.

_Hope you never do again. It's really not pretty, don't you agree?_

_Naminé, hey, _Riku greeted her. _How are you?_

_Oh, up and down_, she replied. _Mostly down, but… that's just how it is sometimes, I suppose._

_We're working on Sora today_, Riku told her. _Asahi and I, I mean. She'll have him running back to Kairi before we know it._

_I sure hope you're right, _Naminé answered, sounding a little skeptical.

* * *

Asahi and Sora had been talking for the entire morning. She couldn't believe how the words just seemed to flow out of both of them without as much as a pause. They talked about anything and everything under the sun, and before Asahi knew it, Sora was asking her about another thing, besides nobodies, that she was an expert on: girls.

"I mean, girls are so confusing," he complained. "That was one thing I never really liked about Kairi."

Asahi giggled. "Sora, you're going to get that with pretty much any girl. We over-analyze things, and over-complicate them."

"Tell me about it," he agreed. "I mean, if I say one simple thing, she completely takes it the wrong way."

"Evidently, we don't find everything to be quite as simple as you do," Asahi said, smiling a little. "I almost envy you guys."

"I wouldn't, if I were you," Sora advised. "Trust me, being confused all the time isn't nearly as glamorous as it sounds."

Asahi's face broke into a grin. "It's okay, Sora, you're still young," Asahi reminded him. "You have lots of time to get better at understanding girls."

"Riku seems to understand pretty well," Sora said enviously. "He really sucks, doesn't he?"

Asahi laughed. "Sora, Riku doesn't suck! And, though this may come as a surprise, he doesn't know the first thing about girls. Trust me on this one!"

Sora raised an eyebrow curiously. "Are you sure? Cause he always seems like he knows what's going on."

She shook her head. "He doesn't. And you'll just have to trust me."

Suddenly, a smirk spread across his lips. "Ohhh, I see why you can say that… because he doesn't seem to understand the signals _you've_ been sending!"

Asahi rolled her eyes. "Right, Sora. See, that might have been semi-intelligent… if I was sending Riku 'signals'. Which I'm not."

Sora's smirk stayed put. "Right, right."

Asahi glanced at her watch, which read 12:45. She knew that her instructions to be at the dock at 1:00 were clear, but really, what was the point if Sora was ready to apologize? _Then again, I suppose it would be easier if she met him half way_, Asahi thought. _Oh, well… off to the dock we go, I suppose._

"Hey Sora? Let's go sit on the dock. It's beautiful out there, and I want to take in as much of that gorgeous beach as I can before I go back to my world."

She waited nervously for his response. What if he said no?

Luckily, she didn't have to worry about trying to find a way to get him there. He simply nodded, and said, "Okay… I haven't gotten out much, and I'm sick of my room."

Asahi giggled. "Perfect. Let's get going, then!"

* * *

Uh oh... what will Kairi do when she sees them? Will Kairi and Sora be close enough for Namine and Roxas to have a little chat? Read the next chapter, coming soon, to find out :D

Thanks for reading, sorry about the length and lack of action!

Lulala


	6. You'll always be somebody

Another update, yaaaaay!

I AT LAST know how I'm going to finish this... which actually will probably not end up the way you expect! It's a surprise, you'll find out in the last chapter! There's most likely 2 more chapters, no more than 4. Anyways. This one is MUCH shorter than last chapter, and hopefully a little more entertaining.

THANK YOU SO MUUUCH to all of the reviewers! I really enjoy reading those... I always look forward to right after I update! You're the reason why I even continue this!

Enjoyyyyy!

* * *

It was difficult, but after nearly half an hour of coaxing, Riku finally managed to get Kairi out of the house and walking toward the beach. Though he was trying to keep Kairi engaged in conversation to ensure she didn't fall asleep on her feet and end up flat on her face, he couldn't seem to stop thinking about Asahi and Sora. 

He knew that she was brilliant, and that she could more than handle Sora, but… somehow, he couldn't help but wonder. As he began to wrap his thoughts around Asahi and Sora, he suddenly remembered: Asahi would have to go back to her world in a few days. This mildly entertaining scheming behind Sora and Kairi's backs wouldn't last forever… and for whatever reason, it was just hitting him now.

He desperately tried to shake these thoughts from his head, but they stuck all the way to the beach. At last, he spotted Asahi and Sora sitting together on the dock, and breathed a sigh of relief—being alone with his thoughts any more today would probably be a bad idea. "Hey, Kairi," he said, "look, there's Asahi!"

Her eyes shifted to get a good look at the dock. Her mouth fell open, and she seemed more awake than ever. "What is she doing alone with Sora?"

Riku shrugged. "She just wanted to get to know him, I think."

"Get to know him," Kairi scoffed. "Whatever, Riku." She continued to march across the beach, walking determinedly in the opposite direction of the dock.

Riku grabbed her wrist. "C'mon, Kairi, let's just go be friendly and say hi, or something," Riku pleaded, attempting to drag her towards Sora and Asahi.

Kairi struggled against his grip. "Riku, no! You set this up, you must've—"

Riku belted out a nervous laugh. "Set it up? I haven't a clue what you're talking about!"

"Oh, puh-leaze. You're not fooling me!" she snapped, still struggling to get away.

"Kairi, you and Sora can't keep fighting over something so stupid—"

"We'll fight over whatever we want to!" she shouted at him. "It's none of your business, Riku, just stay out of it!"

* * *

Asahi saw Riku struggling with Kairi, and figured it would probably be best if she and Sora met up with them over there. She stood up, and said, "Hey, Sora, Riku's over there… let's go, I bet he came here looking for us." 

Sora stood up. "Riku, eh? I completely forgot about—" He froze when he noticed Kairi. "It's Kairi!"

Asahi peered over at him cautiously. "Shouldn't you… you know… go apologize?"

Sora covered his face with his hands, and said nothing.

"Sora, after everything we talked about, how can you still be so stubborn and thick-headed?" Asahi demanded, hands on her hips.

He looked up at her. "I'm trying," he said through gritted teeth. "I'm nervous, don't push me."

She sighed in exasperation. "You can fight powerful guys like Ansem and Xemnas, but you can't even talk to a girl? That's a little surprising."

"Aw, stop heckling me," Sora said, staring at the ground. "Let's just go over there then, I guess," he muttered.

"Alrighty, then!" Asahi said happily, cracking a grin and leading the way off the dock and toward the beach, where Riku was still trying to pull Kairi towards Sora and Asahi.

* * *

As Naminé tried to force Kairi towards Sora (to no avail, obviously), she could sense it—if Sora just came forward a few more feet, she'd be able to— 

"Naminé?"

"Roxas!" she shouted happily. "It's been way too long!"

She could hear him chuckling a little. "Yeah, it really has…"

"So, why's Sora hanging out with that girl?" she asked him, overjoyed that Roxas was at last close enough to communicate with her.

"They're trying to get him to apologize to Kairi," Roxas explained. "I must say, she's got a way with words. Sora thinks she likes Riku, though."

Naminé smiled a little. "Riku deserves a nice girl."

"Yeah," Roxas agreed. "After all the stuff he's done to try to help Sora and Kairi be friends again… he definitely deserves someone pretty great."

Naminé giggled. "I really hope they make up, then I'll get to talk to you a lot more!"

Roxas grinned widely. "I'd really like that, too!"

"Do you think that what that girl said to Sora really helped?" Naminé asked, praying that Sora could pluck up the courage to apologize.

"I know that he really wants to now," Roxas told her. "But I'm not sure if he will. He still has his doubts."

"He's still Sora, of course," Naminé commented slightly bitterly.

* * *

Riku saw that Asahi seemed to understand what was going on—she was leading Sora over toward where he was still trying to convince Kairi to talk to him. "Kairi, he wants to apologize… just give him a chance," Riku begged. 

She finally stopped pulling. "You really think he wants to apologize?"

"Oh, definitely," Riku said, praying he was right, and that Asahi had talked some sense into him. "Just let him try."

Kairi folded her arms across her chest, and stood there, glaring at Sora, who was standing just behind Asahi. "Hi, Riku," Asahi greeted him brightly. "Hello, Kairi! How are you today?"

"A little angry," Kairi said huffily, still shooting a hole through Sora with her eyes.

"Guys, could… could I have a minute to talk to Kairi… alone?" Sora meekly requested.

Riku and Asahi were off without another word. Kairi still had her arms folded, and still looked pissed.

"Kairi?" Sora began quietly.

She stared him down. "What?"

"I… I'm really sorry for going off on you like that."

She shut her eyes, taking this moment in. Sora was actually apologizing!

"It's okay, Sora," she finally said. "You know… I was thinking about this all night last night… do you remember, way before your whole keyblade hero thing even started…? I told you never to change."

Sora wracked his brains. "Yeah, I remember…"

"I was so worried that you had. But… now I guess I can see that you're still the same old Sora."

He grinned. "What can I say? I'll always be the same old me."

* * *

"Hooray, he's apologized!" Naminé said happily. 

Roxas smiled. "It's amazing, isn't it… what one conversation with a girl will do."

"It certainly changed your life," Naminé commented. "Remember the first conversation you ever had with me?"

Roxas shut his eyes—he remembered the moment perfectly, of course. There was no way he could possibly forget when Naminé had told him that he was never supposed to have existed. Anything involving Naminé typically stuck in his head pretty well. "I'm still glad I met you," Roxas told her.

"I'm glad I even saw you again, after that whole thing," Naminé said, half-smiling. "Even if it was only for a couple of minutes. But, hey, just like we knew we'd meet again then… sometime in the future, we'll see each other, I just know it."

"I really hope that's soon," Roxas murmured. "Sora is frustrating. This is what really sucks about being a nobody."

"Roxas… something that you really should learn… is that no matter what, to me, you'll always be somebody. So don't be so down on yourself about something you can't control," Naminé advised. Right now, for example, being a nobody wasn't so bad—if he could actually see her, he would have known that she was blushing furiously—not exactly something she would have wanted him to know.

With every minute that passed, Roxas found himself liking Naminé more and more. "To me, you'll always be somebody, too," he told her softly.

* * *

"So… why were you hanging out with Asahi?" Kairi casually asked Sora as they walked along the beach. 

Sora chuckled a little to himself. "I'm starting to put two and two together, and I'm pretty sure Riku stuck her with me, just so that she could talk me into apologizing to you."

Kairi smiled a little. "You're too stubborn for your own good, and Riku knows that. He's so smart!"

Sora's mouth collapsed into a scowl. "Smart? He doesn't even _realize _what kind of girl he has a chance with! He doesn't see that she really likes him, and… she's great, Kairi. So, as far as I'm concerned, Riku is the stupidest guy alive."

Kairi suddenly felt obligated to stand up for Riku, though she wasn't sure why. "Riku looks out for her, Sora… he came to my house to see if I had clothes she could borrow. He obviously has some sort of thing for her. If anything, she's the one who will end up breaking his heart!"

Sora stared at her in disbelief. "_What_? I mean, Riku's a nice guy, he'd do that for any girl. I'm just saying, he doesn't seem to realize that a great girl just fell into his lap."

"Sora, you know that Riku—"

"Yeah, I do know Riku," Sora interrupted her. "I know that right now, he's so confused about his feelings that he doesn't have a clue how to act."

"It seems like he's not the only boy on this island with that problem," Kairi muttered.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sora demanded, heat rising in his face.

Kairi put her hands on her hips. "You know what it means, Sora. Don't play dumb."

"You think _I'm_ confused?" he asked incredulously. "Oh, trust me, I know _exactly _what's going on in my head right now."

"Oh really?" Kairi said, eyebrows shooting up towards the sky. "Inquiring minds want to know: what _is _up there, Sora?"

"…I don't know."

Kairi couldn't help cracking up. "That's exactly what I thought."

"No, I mean… one minute, it's like, I'm completely angry at you for something, and the next, it's like something completely different takes over me and I'm ready to rush out and apologize to you. It's the craziest thing," Sora explained.

Kairi's eyes widened. "Are you kidding me? That's _exactly _what's been going on with me, lately!"

"Wow, talk about weird," Sora commented, wrinkling up his nose.

"You know… maybe Asahi would know something about this…"

Sora looked more confused than ever. "Why would _Asahi_ know anything about this? It's probably just a coincidence.

As Kairi recalled what she had told Riku about possibly feeling what Naminé felt,it wasbecoming clear to her that this was most likely not a coincidence. "I still really think we should ask her about it."

"O-kay," Sora reluctanly agreed. "We can ask, but I still think it's weird."

Sora and Kairi turned around, and began walking back towards the dock, where Riku and Asahi were sitting together.

* * *

"Having you here the past couple days has been great," Riku told her, staring out at the seemingly endless ocean. 

Asahi smiled. "Being here has been great. I wish I didn't have to leave."

There that topic was again—Asahi leaving. Why couldn't it just leave him alone for two seconds so that he could think properly? "Yeah… I'll really miss you." Well, at least he knew he could say_that_ for certain.

"The thing is… after Sora said something to me today… I don't want to leave."

"Sora actually said something _that _amazing?" he said, surprised. "That's unexpected."

Asahi backhanded his arm. "No, it's not unexpected! Sora is a great kid," Asahi said, smiling. "You really need to get out of the habit of teasing him."

Riku shrugged. "He's used to it by now."

She smacked him again. "Seriously, Riku. He's got a good head on his shoulders, when he remembers to use it."

As Riku was pondering a witty comeback, he suddenly noticed something in the sky—it could only be one thing. It was unmistakeably… "A gummi ship," he murmured.

"What? Where?"

Riku pointed. "Wonder whose it is…?"

As the spot in the sky seemed to draw nearer and nearer, Riku realized—it was coming to the island. As far as he knew, there was only one ship that came to the island—Mickey's. Which could only mean one thing—he was here to get Asahi and take her home.

The ship made a perfectly safe landing, and Riku watched with dread as Donald and Goofy rushed toward him and Asahi.

"Riku, where's Sora?" Goofy asked, frantically scanning the beach.

"He walked that way with Kairi," Riku said, pointing up the beach. "…Why?"

"We need you two, too—the castle's under attack," Donald hurriedly explained.

Riku and Asahi were on their feet without another word, sprinting down the beach to find wherever Sora and Kairi wandered off to.

* * *

Dadadummm... who would attack Disney Castle, and why? Read chapter 7, coming soon, to find out! 

Hope you enjoyed it!

Thanks for reading,

Lulala


	7. Not again!

An update, which is the fastest one yet on this fic! Hurrrahhhhh for Lulala :D

Thanks so much to the reviewers! You guys make me oh so happy and motivated to get this story updated :D

Anyways. Here we go!

* * *

In a matter of minutes, all of them were aboard the gummi ship, getting a hurried explanation from Donald as they warped to Disney Castle.

"The King's gone looking for the path to Asahi's world, so we had no one else to turn to for help," he explained. "We're not sure why the nobodies are attacking, but we need to fight them off before we can find out!"

Sora looked confused. "If you two are here… then who's back at the castle?"

"It's empty," Donald told them. "We dropped Minnie and Daisy off in Radiant Garden. There's no way we were going to leave them there!"

"So… we're going to have to fight our way in?" Asahi asked, brow furrowed with worry.

"Wait, wait, wait… _you're_ not fighting," Riku immediately said. "Sora and I will fight."

Asahi rolled her eyes. "Find me a couple swords, and I'll be fine."

Kairi was glaring at Riku. "You let me fight with that keyblade before… why not now?"

"Nobodies are much more dangerous that heartless," Riku said, arms folded and looking stubborn. "I can't risk—"

"You don't have to," Asahi assured him. "Kairi and I will be fine."

He sighed. "Okay, I guess you probably could."

Asahi and Kairi both squealed, and high-fived each other. Sora and Riku exchanged a glance, and had to fight to keep from cracking up.

"Be ready," Donald advised. "They will attack us when we get off the ship!"

Riku quickly summoned Kairi's keyblade, and then his own. Sora grabbed his out of thin air as Asahi watched the whole spectacle in awe.

"I don't have a weapon," Asahi reminded Riku.

"Let's all go to the armory," Goofy suggested. "If we can get there, Asahi will be able to use a sword."

Riku and Sora nodded. "Lead the way," Riku murmured.

Donald and Goofy were first off the ship. Donald had been right—the dusks began to attack them right away. Asahi stuck close by Kairi as Sora and Riku sliced their way through countless enemies. As she watched the whole scene, Riku was absolutely blowing her mind—how someone so cool and collected could become so fierce when he was fighting was a complete mystery to her. There was one thing she could say for sure—she didn't ever want to meet Riku in a dark alley if he had that keyblade with him.

When they at last reached the armory, Asahi breathed a sigh of relief. She was tired of watching everyone else have all the fun. Riku and Sora were both panting, and Kairi's face was pink with exhaustion. Donald and Goofy weren't kidding when they said the castle was under attack—it was completely, totally overrun.

Donald found two shorter swords for Asahi to use. "Perfect," she said, sheathing one of the swords. "These are just like what I use!"

Riku raised an eyebrow. "You have weapons?"

She smiled a little. "Yup, the King has them in his study." She strapped the belts around her waist, and drew her swords. "Okay, ready."

Riku sidled up to her as they walked out of the armory. "You know… if you need anything… just yell," he told her softly.

She smiled a little. "Riku. I'll be fine."

"Okay—I mean, I know… I just thought—"

"Relax," Asahi advised, still smiling. "I'm great at fighting, you'll see."

"Of course you are," Riku managed to choke out. Cheeks flushing with embarrassment, he tightened his grip on his keyblade and rushed back out into the hall, ready to take out his feelings on some nobodies.

Asahi followed him, and immediately attacked the nearest nobody. It felt good to be fighting again—after all, between the time she had been locked up and the time that she had spent on the island, she hadn't fought for quite awhile.

As Riku watched her, he found it extremely difficult to keep focused on his own fighting. The way she swung her swords was somehow graceful and yet tough at the same time. She took out nobodies at about the same rate as he and Sora, which was impressive. He suddenly realized she was right—there was absolutely no reason to worry about her.

They fought their way down the hallway from the armory towards the library, and took another break once they got there. "There's so many," Kairi huffed, pulling her hair back and tying it with a rubber band.

Sora eyed her sadly. "You really don't have to do this, Kairi," he said, draping his arm over her shoulders and pulling her into a half-hug. "Rest for awhile, okay?"

She shook her head. "No, I'm okay… I just didn't think there would be so many."

"Well, we're almost to the throne room," Goofy informed them. "Once we're there, we can use the corner stone to destroy them all."

"We have to be careful, it'll be the hardest room to get into," Riku said, "I'm sure of it."

"Wait… if we can use the cornerstone, why didn't you guys just do that in the first place!" Sora wailed, thinking back to how close he had been to actually telling Kairi how he felt back on the beach.

Donald gave him a weird look. "We were just coming back from business in Twilight Town, and the girls were waiting in the gummi hangar, cornered by nobodies. They were in the courtyard, and had no chance to get up to the throne room. They can't fight, remember?"

Sora's shoulders slumped forward, and he didn't reply. _If only these stupid nobodies had better timing_, he thought to himself.

* * *

After their short rest, they rushed back out into the hallway to take out some more enemies. Asahi pulled out her swords and stabbed both into a dusk's head. It screeched in pain. She ripped them out and twirled around, slicing off several heads in the process. Everyone was giving it their absolute all, and, slowly but surely, they made their way down the hallway.

As they got closer to the throne room, they found out pretty quickly that Riku had been absolutely 100 percent correct. The nobodies were no longer simple dusks—samurai, dancers, gamblers, and sorcerers were all lurking, causing several casualties. Nothing, thankfully, was unable to be cured by a simple spell, usually performed by Riku or Donald.

After what felt like an eternity of endless nobodies, the door to the throne room was, at last, in sight. Unfortunately, a wall of samurai blocked their entrance—everyone braced themselves for one last fight. As Asahi parried a potentially lethal blow from one of them, another sliced her across her back, leaving a straight, red cut. She felt the blood rush to her head, but kept fighting. As it started to trickle down her back, Riku noticed.

He yelled something she didn't hear—most likely her name—and quickly disposed of the Samurai he was fighting to help her. He took out the one that had injured her in a matter of seconds. Before long, they were all gone, and everyone rushed into the throne room to avoid another wave of nobodies.

As Goofy, Donald, Sora, and Kairi all were working on the corner stone, Riku was fawning over Asahi. He forced her to sit on the ground while he healed her massive cut. "Man, this is pretty deep," he said, voice quivering a little with worry.

Asahi shut her eyes, feeling his warm hands dull the stinging pain on her back. "Thank you so much," she said gratefully.

"It's no problem," Riku assured her, still healing the cut. "I was worried for a minute there."

She looked over her shoulder at him, and smiled a little. "Thanks."

He smiled back at her. "It's my pleasure."

When Goofy at last got the corner stone working, he wiped out all of the nobodies in the entire castle. With that pressing matter taken care of, they could all take a nice long rest, and discuss who in the world might possibly have done this.

"They wouldn't attack for no reason," Riku pointed out, watching Asahi to make sure she was okay.

"Quit it, I'm fine," she told him, reading his mind. "I agree with Riku… but with Xemnas gone, who would just randomly order them to attack the castle?"

"Life is just confusing," Sora sighed. "We definitely should look into this, though, to prevent another attack on somewhere else."

"I think we should split up and look around, see if anyone's here…" Riku suggested. "Donald, Goofy, why don't you guys go and get Minnie and Daisy, and we'll look around and see if we can find anything."

Donald and Goofy agreed, and headed back down towards the gummi hangar. "Sora, you and Kairi check that way," Riku pointed down the hall. "Asahi and I will go this way."

"Meet back in an hour," Sora called after Riku and Asahi. "C'mon, Kairi, let's go!"

As Riku and Asahi silently made their way down the hallway, weapons drawn, she kept catching him watching her—entirely annoying and unnecessary. Why couldn't he just get over the fact that she was absolutely fine?

They checked every room in that hallway, and then moved down a floor to check that one. When they had at last reached a musty old study on the ground floor, Riku spoke.

"Don't think there's anything here," he whispered. "I wonder if Sora and Kairi are having better luck."

Asahi looked thoughtful. "This doesn't make sense… random attacks like, never happen, especially not ones this bad."

"Oh, this wasn't random at all," came a strange voice.

Riku grabbed Asahi and slid an arm around her waist. He whirled around, scanning the whole room. "Where are you? Show yourself!" he demanded.

"You can let your little girlfriend go, I'm not gonna hurt her," the voice said, almost mockingly. Suddenly, Riku saw him—standing in the corner of the old study was a man in a familiar looking black coat—one that Riku had seen all members of a certain organization wear.

"Not again," he groaned under his breath, raising his keyblade. "Asahi, get back!"

* * *

Uhhh ohhh... what in the world is going on here? Read chapter 8, coming soon, to find out! Review if you'd like!

Thanks for reading,

Lulala


	8. The strangest feeling ever

Hello, all! This is Lulala, back with chapter 8! The next chapter of this fic will be the last... but fear not, I have two more fics in the works, so I'll be back pretty much immediately XD Thank you so much to the reviewers...

Especially Skitty 2004. This is actually a repost of the same chapter... but this ever so kind reviewer pointed out one glaring error... which I will talk more about at the end of this chapter.

Enjoy!

* * *

Riku tried to re-situate Asahi behind him, but she wouldn't budge. "Asahi," he mumbled, "this guy's dangerous, you don't know what you're—"

"Riku," she shot back, "expert. I _do _know what I'm dealing with."

The man in the black coat cocked his head to the side. "I'd listen to him, if I were you, sweetheart."

Asahi wrinkled up her nose, and pulled out her swords. "Just for that—"

"Chill," the man advised. "I'm not here to hurt you or anything, so if you back off, you'll get out of this alive."

Asahi immediately turned her head to look at Riku. He was staring at the man, not quite sure what he should do—should he attack? He had no idea how to even go about attacking this nobody, since he didn't know which one it was.

Instead, he settled for conversation. It would, for one thing, buy him a little time. "I thought all the organization members were dead."

"They are," the man said. "I'm a parting gift from the last to die."

Riku's brow furrowed. "Xemnas?"

"You were there when he died, you tell me."

"If you're here to kill me, why haven't you attacked?" Riku asked.

"What, are you asking for it now or something?" the man asked, unable to believe his own luck. "Man, this will be a lot easier than I thought it would be!"

Riku glared at him. "No. Just wondering why you didn't get to the point."

"Just waiting for the girl to leave," he answered.

Asahi scowled. "I'm not leaving Riku alone in here with—"

"Asahi, go," Riku commanded.

"But—"

"I can handle it. Now, go find Sora."

She put her hands on her hips. "No way, Riku."

He sighed exasperatedly. "This isn't about whether you can help or not. I just don't want you to get hurt."

"And I don't want you to get hurt, either!" she snapped back.

"Okay, would you both just shut up?" the man shouted over them. "Let her fight, Riku. I'd hate to hurt her, but… she's askin' for it."

"If she fights, _you're _the one who's asking for it," Riku told him. "Let's go then, Asahi."

They charged the stranger. He quickly teleported from the corner to the middle of the room. Riku and Asahi whirled around, just in time to see him draw his weapon…

He held out his hand in front of him. Riku and Asahi watched in complete and utter confusion as a keyblade materialized in his hand. "Uh, Riku?" Asahi whispered.

"Roxas?" Riku asked, shocked.

"Wrong," the man answered. "He's not the only one who can wield a keyblade."

_A parting gift from Xemnas…? _Was it possible?

"What's your name?" Riku demanded.

"Not that it matters, I'm Xurik," the man answered. "Xemnas brought me to life just before he died."

If it was possible, Riku became even more confused. "_What? _I was with him right up until he died, and I didn't see him create any nobodies."

"Exactly," Xurik replied. "For a smart guy, you sure are stupid."

Riku and Asahi looked at each other. He could read it in her face that she had no idea what Xurik could possibly be talking about. If the expert didn't know…

"You did see him do it, you just don't know you did," Xurik continued. "Do I have to spell it out for you?"

Riku looked at Asahi again, hoping she might have worked some of this out. Her expression was nothing short of utter confusion. He mentally slapped himself—what was this guy talking about?

"Evidently, I do," he said, answering his own question. "Not only did you see Xemnas' last-ditch effort to get rid of you and Sora—you _felt _it, too, I'd guess…"

"Riku?" Asahi whispered. "Xemnas hit you, right?"

"Yeah," Riku murmured back. "But—"

Suddenly, something in his brain clicked into place. One glance at Asahi made him realize that she was most definitely thinking what he was thinking. "Well," she said under her breath, "now we know where your nobody went."

Xurik yanked back his hood to reveal dark brown hair, which went down to about his earlobes. He had the same eyes as Riku, and bore a striking resemblance. "Lucky you've got that girl here with you, or you might never have figured it out."

Suddenly, the door to the study swung open, and Sora and Kairi entered. "Hey, Riku—" his eyes fell on Xurik. "What the—"

"Be seeing you, Riku," Xurik said, grinning maliciously as he teleported away.

"Dammit," Riku cursed, having a strong urge to kick something.

"Uh…" Kairi was dumbstruck. "He looked just like you!"

"Riku, what's going on?" Sora asked, confused.

Riku swallowed hard. "That guy—he… well, he—"

"That guy was Riku's nobody," Asahi told Sora and Kairi.

"Uh. What?" Sora asked again, obviously not believing what he had heard the first time.

"She's telling the truth…" Riku said, "…I guess."

"So there's _more_ nobodies for us to get rid of?" Sora hung his head. "Oh god, not again…"

"That's what I said!" Riku burst out. "He said something about being Xemnas' 'last ditch effort' to get rid of us."

"Last ditch effort? More like last chance to be a jerk," Sora said bitterly.

"Yeah," Riku agreed. "I don't understand how Xemnas hitting me with his stupid little light sword somehow let my nobody loose."

Asahi gave him a look, but didn't say anything. Instead, she bit her lip thoughtfully.

"Asahi?" Riku said expectantly.

She looked up at the ceiling. "No clue, Riku. That must have been what he was _trying _to do by hitting you… let Xurik out to stir things up… but I have no idea how."

"Well, how did your organization or whatever take out your nobody?" he asked, running a hand through his hair.

"Equipment," Asahi answered vaguely. "I don't think Xemnas knew that my boss had discovered a way to remove and destroy nobodies… he had no idea that we were on to him, and that we knew what could become of a nobody that escaped from a person."

"Well… I mean, they could end up bad, but otherwise, they could end up good, like Roxas and Naminé!" Kairi pointed out.

"Regardless, we didn't want to take the chance," Asahi explained. "At any rate, Xemnas knew, at that point, that he was finished… so he must have released Xurik because he knew he wouldn't be able to finish you off himself."

Riku nodded. "That makes sense, I guess."

"So… what are we going to do?" Sora asked, turning to Riku.

"Well… we're going to have to track him down, right? Don't want him causing too much trouble, after all," Riku replied, not sounding particularly thrilled about the whole thing.

"We'll all go," Kairi said cheerily. "Hunting down bad guys together? It sounds great!"

"Yeah!" Asahi agreed. "That does sound like it would be fun… but let's not leave here until tonight, just to make sure the attack is over."

Riku and Sora shared a look—neither wanted the girls to come along. They were the only ones that fought Xemnas, and were also the only ones who knew exactly want a nobody was capable of… especially a nobody with a keyblade.

"Right, we'll leave later," Sora agreed, raising an eyebrow at Riku. "Hey, Kairi? Could I talk to you alone for a minute?"

"Sure… let's go to the garden!" she suggested brightly, leading the way out of the study. Riku watched them go sadly. Being alone with Asahi after the encounter with Xurik was the last thing he wanted. Just before Sora disappeared out the door, he jerked his head in Asahi's direction, and gave Riku a thumbs up.

_Oh, god_, Riku thought to himself. _I can't believe he actually wants me to say something_.

Riku turned to face Asahi, who had mischief dancing behind her eyes. "Hey Riku," she whispered, breath tickling his ear, "let's follow them."

Riku's face broke into a grin. Stealthily, they crept out of the study behind Sora and Kairi.

* * *

Sora and Kairi made it to the garden pretty quickly, for which Sora was thankful. He was feeling a burning fire inside, almost like a can of pop, ready to explode. He had absolutely no idea why he felt like this exact moment was the right one to tell Kairi the secret that he had been harboring since… well… as long as he could remember.

"Kairi," he said, smiling a little. "I really had something I wanted to tell you."

She smiled back. "Okay, Sora, I'm listening."

Sora felt confident—he was pretty close now… within a couple inches of kissing her… he suddenly felt as though he was going to pass out—and then, the strangest feeling he had ever had occurred. It felt as though someone was smothering him, taking over his body… and he realized with a jolt that the words he was about to say weren't what he meant at all—

"I love you, Naminé."

* * *

If you have read this chapter before, you'll notice that Riku's nobody's name is different... cause Skitty 2004 pointed out something that I completely forgot about XD So Xurik is his actual name... sorry about the confusion, and thanks again, Skitty, for your help :D

Anyway. What's Sora thinking! Read chapter 9, coming extremely soon, to find out!

Thanks!

Lulala


	9. Anything's possible

..And here 'tis! The last chapter:D

One quick note: Thanks to this awesome reviewer, Skitty 2004, I realized I had made a mistake with Riku's Nobody's name. Thus, his name has changed from Xenber to Xurik. I reposted the last chapter with the correction, also. Very sorry about the mistake!

Anyways. Here we go!

* * *

Sora didn't mean to say it—really, he didn't! Faces still inches apart, he saw Kairi smiling slightly. She closed her eyes, and Sora wondered whether she had caught what had just come out of his mouth. 

"I was hoping you'd say that," she replied. She drew closer, and Sora could feel his heart beginning to race. He was, without a doubt, freaking out—hadn't she heard what he had said? Why in the world did she still want to kiss him?

Suddenly, she turned her head a little, so that her mouth was about level with Sora's ear. He was a little bit jittery—she was, after all, _extremely _close. Though he was trying desperately to stand still, because he was so nervous, it was proving to be exceedingly difficult. Then, his mind began to race right along with his heart. _Why is she just standing here? Does she want me to kiss her on the cheek or something? _

"I love you too, Roxas," she whispered in his ear.

_Wait. What?_ Sora thought. He tried to move, and found that he couldn't. _Why in the heck can't I move?_

He wrapped his arms around Kairi, though his arms weren't at all what he was trying to move—which was a strange feeling, to say the least… Sora saw Riku and Asahi pop out of a bush, looking pretty surprised, and both staring at Sora with their eyes popping out of their heads. And then, he suddenly realized what they were staring at—a blinding light was coming right out of Sora's heart. He released Kairi and took several steps back, just in time to see that the same thing was happening to her. His hand gravitated towards the epicenter of the light, and he grasped at his clothing—what was happening to both of them?

When the light at last stopped, Sora saw something in front of him that he simply could not believe—Roxas and Naminé, hugging each other in exactly the same place that Sora and Kairi had stood moments ago.

Asahi grabbed on to Riku for balance. Judging by the look on Riku's face, it probably should have been the other way around.

"Naminé? Roxas?" Kairi said uncertainly. "How…?"

They at last released each other. They quickly linked their hands together. They both smiled, and turned to Riku and Asahi. "Thank you," Roxas said earnestly. Naminé nodded in agreement.

"What's going on?" Sora finally managed through his completely dry mouth.

"They're in love," Asahi sighed dreamily. "That's what's going on."

Riku was having flashbacks in his brain to the day when he had first asked Asahi what would happen if a nobody ever fell in love. Then, her response had been that they might become real, or disappear forever… but that nobody actually knew, because it had never happened before. Riku bent down a little so that he could whisper in her ear, "So that's what you were talking about that day…"

She smiled a little. "See? I told you something would happen if a nobody felt a real emotion!"

"…We're not real," Naminé quickly added. "But it's okay… we're together, and that's all that matters."

"Not real?" Riku choked, his thoughts of what Asahi had said crashing down on him. "What do you mean?"

"Can't you see it?" Naminé held up her hand, and Riku realized that she was right—they were translucent, just as they had been before re-entering Sora and Kairi. "We're going to have to go soon—but we'll come visit a lot, we promise!"

"Where will you go?" Kairi asked, sounding a little sad.

"Oh, here and there," Roxas answered, draping an arm around Naminé's shoulders. "Sora… I think you had something to say?"

Sora froze. He took a deep breath, and quickly regained his composure. "Kairi, I…"

She smiled. "What is it, Sora?"

"I…" he felt the heat rising in his face. "I mean… what I mean is… I really, really like you, Kairi."

Her smile widened. "Sora? You do know that this means there's no way I'm letting you go find that guy without me, right?"

He smiled sheepishly. "That's okay with me!"

She and Sora were pulled together like magnets, Roxas and Naminé looking on with huge grins plastered across their faces.

It was then that Riku knew he had seen everything. Nobodies popping out, Sora actually admitting how he felt… Though everything was going great, something was still nagging at the back ofRiku's mind… something besides the pressing need to murder his own nobody, of course. After debating with himself for a moment, he finally figured—oh, what the heck.

His hand groped out into the space between him and Asahi. She seemed to have the same idea, because their hands met somewhere in the middle of no man's land, and she laced her fingers through his. She looked up at him, and smiled. He smiled back, and the nagging in his brain was dulled to a calm, delighted hum.

"Sora, Kairi… you guys don't need us anymore," Roxas told them. "You have each other. We'll be around to help you take care of Xurik, because he is without a doubt extremely dangerous, but… you don't need us with you anymore."

"Thank you guys… for everything," Naminé added, smiling. "But… I think we're going to go now."

Sora nodded, holding Kairi close. "Hope to see you guys again soon!"

"Oh, we'll be around," Roxas assured him.

"Okay, what the hell just happened?" Riku murmured to Asahi.

"They're in love," Asahi sighed again. "How this happened and where they're going is totally irrelevant."

Without another word, he firmly decided that she was absolutely right. As they watched Roxas and Naminé fade away, hands still linked together, Riku smiled a little. Wherever their next journey to find Xurik would take them, he realized the most important thing that Roxas and Naminé had taught him—anything was possible. As he felt the soft pressure of Asahi's hand in his, and of her head on his shoulder… he knew deep inside that it was more than true.

* * *

Tada! The end. Did you like it? And now, as promised, the special previews of my next two fics, both in the works, and will both be going at the same time: 

Fic number one, which some of you will hopefully read:

Enigma, sequel to "Somebodies"!  
Brief summary: Riku's nobody is on the loose. Between threatening his friends, starting wars, and even shaking up Riku's love life, he's causing all around chaos. How will Riku and his friends stop him? What crazy roads will chasing a nobody as powerful as Riku lead them down?

Bet you guys weren't expecting a sequel, were you? Here's fic number two:

Sincerely, Nobody  
Brief summary: Roxas is just a typical teenage boy, at a typical high school. When he finds a diary belonging to a girl, his life is turned upside down. As he reads into the mystery girl's life, he slowly begins to fall for her. How will he find the girl that wrote the diary? Even if he manages finds her, how in the world will he even _begin_ to explain himself? R x N 

Read the sequel to find out what happens :D Thanks so much for reading this story, it was a nice, short, fun one for me to write. Look for the first chapter of at least one of the new stories in a week or so, if not less, if you're interested in reading. Both will be good, I promise :D

Thanks again for reading, make sure you check out the new fics!

Lulala


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